There's a bit more buzz building this year about the CONCACAF Champions League, in which three MLS teams have reached the final eight: Seattle, Los Angeles and Toronto (the latter two of which meet each other in another quarterfinal). The Galaxy's stellar offseason has some pundits thinking L.A. can win it all and become the first MLS team to play in the FIFA Club World Cup, which takes places in Japan in December.

But Santos will have something to say about that. The Torreón-based club, which is 4-1-1 in the Mexican league, will get to play the winner of L.A.-Toronto if it can get past Seattle in the quarters. So those of us on the U.S. side may see Santos a lot in the next couple months. There are some familiar faces, including goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez, and Gómez is competing for playing time on a front line that includes Oribe Peralta, Carlos Quintero and Christian Suárez.